1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to animal feeding structures. Particularly, the present invention relates to apparatus and methods for cleaner and easier to maintain pet feeding bowls.
2. Description of the Related Art
Traditional pet feeding bowls are typically a solid hemispherical structure to hold pet food. The pet owner can place food in the bowl's cavity for consumption by the pet. Invariably, the food placed in the bowl is not completely consumed by the pet. For example, small crumbs of pet food are left over on the bottom or the sides of the feeding bowl. Additionally, pet saliva can make the food crumbs adhere to the inside of the bowl. Eventually, dirt and dust can also stick and dry on the bowl's inner surface and on the leftover food—especially when the bowl is placed outdoors. When outdoors, this issue is exacerbated by factors such as morning dew and light rain. The resulting contamination reduces the sanitation of the feeding bowl. Eating out of the dirty bowl may result in dirt getting into the pet's mouth, damaging its teeth, and/or causing digestive issues.
Therefore, it is incumbent upon the pet owner to keep the feeding bowl as clean as possible. A typical method of cleaning a dirty feeding bowl, especially outdoors, is to use a water stream (e.g., hose) to spray the inner surface of the bowl with water while holding the bowl. Although this method may force the dried dirt and food crumbs off of the inner surface of the bowl, the method suffers from the sprayed water getting on the pet owner, both directly and by bouncing back onto the pet owner, and getting other areas wet. Indeed, because the bowl is solid (and substantially concave), water sprayed into the bowl has the tendency to bounce back at the sprayer—getting the pet owner wet. A light spray may not bounce back, but may be ineffective in dislodging dirt and also tends to result in a sprayed mist. As an alternative, the pet owner can place the feeding bowl on the ground and then spray it with water. Although this may avoid the water bounce back to the sprayer, the bowl will still be left with water in it. The pet owner would then have to bend down, handle the bowl and dump the water out. In any case, the pet owner will often get his/her hands, clothes, and shoes wet.